I'm tasked with starting a photographic department in Dubai for a sister branch of my firm. Having never been there or knowing what's available, what is the Dubai version of Calumet? Is there a store in the city where I can get hold of Canon/Bowens/Colourama? I need a 1Dx, 3 Bowens Heads/soft boxes & boom stand/arm, etc... so it's pretty high end stuff.

In Dubai you are pretty much lost, if you search for a professional photo store. To my knowledge only two stores would even sell you a 1D-X, one being in the Dubai Mall, the other being at Dubai Airport. I seriously doubt that you will get Bowens or other professional lighting equipment at these places.

This information might be somewhat outdated as I have not been in Dubai for some time. Prices for photographic equipment in the Middle East are ridiculously expensive. You would be better off to bring in the gear, purchasing it elsewhere.

I expect you will setup a legal entity in the U.A.E.. In this case I would recommend checking conditions on ordering gear through the internet using your U.A.E. company. My expectation is that you will get away with lower taxation compared to importing through the U.K., but you should really verify this.

U.K. prices are not outlandish, so this should give you a good starting point, but there may be better options depending on product and price range and availability of international deliveries to the U.A.E. by online stores.

There is no tax in the UAE, however there may be some form of shipping tax applied to get your kit in.

I live in Dubai and I can confirm that we have various shops that sell most of the gear you mention, Grand Stores in the Mirdiff City Centre mall have Bowens Lighting gear, Al Falak and Kansas will be able to help you out too, and I’m pretty sure that Micro have a lot of studio kit available.Prices are actually slightly cheaper here for the lower end user products, the newest Canon 70D is currently selling with the 18-135 STM kit lens for around $100 less than the B&H list price.

Here are Telephone details for the best stores in town, all can be found in Mirdiff City Centre.